EN: Good Morning everyone! Is it just me or is time currently just flying by?? How is it mid January already??? I spent the weekend at a wonderful sewing retreat at Lake Starnberg, organized by the lovely Melanie from The Flying Needle. I drove my car there after work on Friday evening, which was filled to the brim with my sewing machine and 4 boxes of UFOs (UNFINISHED OBJECTS!!) I did manage to get there on time and even managed to set everything up before dinner.

EN: Some of the ladies attending, were Munich sewing bloggers I had met last summer and autumn and there were a number of Instagram friends that I finally got to meet in real life! We gorged ourselves on our dinner (especially me!!) and then congregated to our designated sewing room (with a lakeside view!) where we had a proper meet and greet and popped some bottles of prosecco. We all realized, that we all owned too much fabric and could all probably do a monthly fabric hoarder’s anonymous meeting HAHAHAHA We did actually sew until 10 PM and then fell into our beds.

EN: The next morning after breakfast we all went back to sewing up a storm. I had already finished my Sew Over It Coco Jacket the night before and was now hoping to finish at least 3 of my 6 UFOs. The three ladies that were sitting at my table Ela, Anna and Christina all had brought along really great sewing projects and we amused ourselves by talking about all things sewing! It’s a really great feeling to be part of such a nice community. YAS!!! What I found really interesting, was that of the 14 women who attended this retreat, almost all decided to sew Indie Patterns, many of the labels were new to me (most of them German) and I was rather impressed by the awesome hoodies and chic jersey tops that were sewn up and could have easily been found at any Zara or Mango store. We went to eat at a Italian Restaurant for dinner where we laughed A LOT, I’m pretty sure the restaurant staff were glad to see us leave at 10 PM. =)

EN: On Sunday after breakfast, we all attempted to finish our projects, and in the late afternoon we unfortunately, had to pack up all of our things, put them back in our cars and say goodbye to our friends. I’d like to say a massive thank you to Melanie for organizing this fabulous sewing event, I had a wonderful time and I hope we’ll be able to do it again, soon! YOU ROCK!

EN: So what did I actually sew and finish, you ask? Well, I finished a pink and green (!!) wool Sew Over It Coco Jacket, a Deer and Doe Melilot Blouse, a Deer and Doe Luzerne Trench Coat and a Vickie Dress (Anna/ Belladone Dress Hack) which I think is not too shabby…. But I did have two sewing fails….The Linden Sweatshirt and the Hadley Top by Grainline Studios were a real disappointment. I used some mystery jersey fabric from my stash for the Linden Sweatshirt and the fabric just completely bagged out and looked a right mess. I asked the ladies, that were sitting at my table for their advice and Anna said:”BIN IT!!!!!” which is where you can probably still find it. As for the Hadley Top… what a disaster!! The darts where much too high, so I lowered them, the armholes were so tight, it was beyond uncomfortable and the neckline was sooo deep I could never wear the top out in public… I’m still quite sore about this FAIL, as I used the same wonderful linen fabric I used for my Orsola dress, and there is no way to save this top. I guess, my measurements do not work with the Grainline Studios Bodice block…This label is dead to me.

EN: The Sewing retreat was a fabulous event and I had so much fun talking to other sewing enthusiasts!! I hope you all have a wonderful week and I’ll catch you here next week, when I finally get around to taking pictures of my finished projects!!